World Series 2015 preview: New York Mets the favourite against Kansas City Royals for the championship

COMMENT: It could all be over inside five games

A view of Kansas City Royal's Kauffman Stadium

The one thing we know is that on opening day here next season, the world champions will be on the field.

That's because, by a quirk of the schedule, the Mets open the season at Kauffman Stadium with what was supposed to be their first trip to Kansas City since 2004. They have quickly arranged another visit for Games 1 and 2 of the World Series, plus Games 6 and 7, if necessary.

Those games will not be necessary. New York will win the World Series in five games.

A lot will be made of the Mets' young, hard-throwing starting rotation, led by innings-unlimited Matt Harvey, All-Star Jacob deGrom and triple digit-happy Noah Syndergaard. Rightfully so, because the Mets' starters are the reason that this team figures to make multiple deep playoff runs for years to come.

The reason to believe the Mets will run roughshod over the Royals, though, is the pitching on the other side.

New York Mets' Matt Harvey (Getty Images)

By not announcing his rotation for the World Series well in advance, Ned Yost joked that he was “being a little bit of a punk.” Really, though, Yost has a problem: His starters don't measure up to the Mets' group, and with a full load of right-handers Kansas City plays into New York's hands.

Forget for a moment about Daniel Murphy, who set the world on fire against lefties and righties alike in the division series and NLCS. While Murphy is likely to cool off, having had time freeze his historic hot streak at six straight games with a homer, he is only one left-handed bat the Mets rely on to thrive against right-handers.

Lucas Duda, who had been mired in a slump before driving in five runs in Game 4 of the NLCS, to help the Mets finish their sweep of the Cubs, is the kind of streaky hitter who could do something Murphy-like in the World Series and run away with the MVP. Curtis Granderson is a huge piece of the Mets' attack at the top of the order, and rookie Michael Conforto should be in the lineup for each game of the series, unlike the first two rounds.

Mix in righty-swinging David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes and Travis d'Arnaud, and it's easy to see why the Mets' lineup is to be feared and not simply a crew being dragged to greatness by the young pitchers. Will a Mets team that has faced Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta in six of nine postseason games really be cowed by Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Yordano Ventura and Chris Young?

That's not to say the Royals can't swing with the Mets, and Kansas City does have good fastball hitters. But the Royals also don't run deep counts, which should help New York's young starters to go deeper into games and nullify the perceived bullpen advantage for Kansas City.

That is a perceived advantage because it's not as big as the words “Royals bullpen” would lead you to believe. Greg Holland's injured elbow doesn't kill the Royals at the end of games, not when Wade Davis is around, but Ryan Madson is not Davis, and the depth just is not what it was last year, even with Kelvin Herrera and Luke Hochevar.

The other part of perception not meeting reality is that the Mets' bullpen isn't as creaky as advertised. Jeurys Familia has been dominant closing games, of course, but the thing the Mets have figured out is that Addison Reed must be used at the start of innings, not thrown in with runners on. The days between series may help Tyler Clippard as much as anyone, while regular season starters Jon Niese and everyone's dream hitter, 42-year-old Bartolo Colon, have been plenty comfortable working out of the pen.

The Mets have advantages up and down the line, and while they won only 90 games to the Royals' 95 in the regular season, it's important to remember how different a team New York has than it did for the first four months of the season, because of not only trades, but the callup of Conforto and the return to health of d'Arnaud and Wright. It adds up to a second straight year of the Royals falling short against a team that used to play at the Polo Grounds.

Jesse Spector writes for Sporting News.